transporting a handgun in Maryland?

This is a discussion on transporting a handgun in Maryland? within the Concealed Carry Issues & Discussions forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; i have a PA LTCF i am going to Maryland today how could i store my handgun while i am in Maryland? can i keep ...

transporting a handgun in Maryland?

i have a PA LTCF i am going to Maryland today how could i store my handgun while i am in Maryland? can i keep it in the case and ammo in another bag? i am only visiting some friends for the day then coming home at night. any feedback

Maryland will have CCW reciprocity shortly after the revolution or the freezing of Hell.

As far as car transport, in a word, no.

You're headed to a destination in Maryland, so the federal peaceable journey law doesn't apply. Maryland does not permit you to keep a gun in the car - anywhere in the car - unless you are headed to / from a gun store, range, etc. And you can't make extraneous stops then.

the carrying of a handgun on the person or in a vehicle while the person is transporting the handgun to or from the place of legal purchase or sale, or to or from a bona fide repair shop, or between bona fide residences of the person, or between the bona fide residence and place of business of the person, if the business is operated and owned substantially by the person if each handgun is unloaded and carried in an enclosed case or an enclosed holster;

i have a PA LTCF i am going to Maryland today how could i store my handgun while i am in Maryland? can i keep it in the case and ammo in another bag? i am only visiting some friends for the day then coming home at night. any feedback

I heard MD is gonna soon have a reciprocity with PA?

The MD General Asssembly will consider a bill (HB 52) that would give CCW permit holders from PA, VA and DE the right to carry in MD. The chances of passage are very slim at best.

As far as storage, the MD AG has issued an opinion as to whether FOPA or MD law applies to handguns when on travel and it basically says if your origin and destination are NOT both in MD, then the FED FOPA law applies.

Quoted below

Notwithstanding any other provision of any law or any rule or regulation of a State or any political subdivision thereof, any person who is not otherwise prohibited by this chapter from transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm shall be entitled to transport a firearm for any lawful purpose from any place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm to any other place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm if, during such transportation the firearm is unloaded, and neither the firearm nor any ammunition being transported is readily accessible or is directly accessible from the passenger compartment of such transporting vehicle: Provided, That in the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driverís compartment the firearm or ammunition shall be contained in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console.

Your problem is this applies to travel, not stopping in MD. I think it would not apply once you have stopped. The law is very vague on this as far as stops for the restroom or food. There is some case law but I don't know what it says. You can Google MD 4-203 for the MD criminal code on handguns.

I'd be very careful doing this because IMO once you stop in MD, MD 4-203 probably applies and it is very restrictive on when you can have a weapon in your vehicle., ie, going to the Gun Shop, range, etc. If you could avoid it, I'd leave the weapon at home. Not worth a run in with an LEO IMO.

Yes it does, except, on the surface it appears that the MD State Police concur with the Federal Law re: transport. A previous poster had doubts if it were applicable.

I disagree. The FOPA states that you can transport from a state that allows CARRY to a place that allows the same. MD does not allow carry w/o a permit and the other conditions are very narrowly described in MD 4-203. The FOPA states:

Notwithstanding any other provision of any law or any rule or regulation of a State or any political subdivision thereof, any person who is not otherwise prohibited by this chapter from transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm shall be entitled to transport a firearm for any lawful purpose from any place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm to any other place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm if, during such transportation the firearm is unloaded, and neither the firearm nor any ammunition being transported is readily accessible or is directly accessible from the passenger compartment of such transporting vehicle: Provided, That in the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driverís compartment the firearm or ammunition shall be contained in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console.

IMO your FOPA protection ceases when you STOP in MD. You have no protection as I read it once you stop. MD is NOT a CARRY state. I would not expect that FOPA would be a good defense if you are stopped once you arrive in MD. The destination protection goes away when you stop. My .02 YMMV

While taking my shower I had time to think this through. The OP was going from PA where he is legal to PA where he is legal with a brief stop over in MD. Hence it is interstate transportation and would fall under the Federal law. If you think it through, anyone on there way through MD to another state would be in violation if they stopped for gas, food, motel, etc.. Think interstate transportation.

Whether MD is carry or no carry in the CCW sense isn't exactly relevant. The issue is whether the gun can be possessed at any time within MD. It could be permissible in a hotel room,vacation rental,rented campsite, but in your situation looks like no.
Target ranges and gun stores are common exceptions. You could transport to a MD gun range, then leave and go back out of MD.

Only option would be for you to get a MD permit, extremely difficult BTW.

"The right of the whole people, old and young, men, women and boys, and not militia only, to keep and bear arms of every description, not such merely as are used by the militia, shall not be infringed, curtailed, or broken in upon, in the smallest degree..."
Nunn v. State GA 1848

i dont like going to MD but i have to respect my old lady its her friends birthday party so i am dead in the water here. i feel alot better when i am in PA then in MD makes me feel like i was born yesterday

"visiting some friends for the day" would hardly be regarded as a "brief stop over". IIRC the brief stopover language was included to allow you to stop for fuel, food and restrooms during your trip from one gun friendly state through hostile territory to another gun friendly state.
I think your interpretation might hold more water if the travelers ultimate destination was Virginia. But as I see it he is not passing through Maryland. The purpose of his trip is to do something in Maryland and he is then returning home.

Considering that Maryland effectively denies its own residents the right to carry, I would be really upset (if I still lived there) if they allowed non-residents from anywhere else to carry.

I agree this bill will die in committee, just like every other pro-gun bill in the last 20 years.

Sadly, you're right. MD will never allow the citizens of border states to carry while denying the right to it's own citizens. I do have a VA non resident CCW for other reasons but it will never see the light of day in MD.